This is shameful. Today, here we have a sensible, honest, productive member of our community. I cannot say I am quite sure how girls dancing in the woods singing songs translates to witchcraft, but the community says it so. With only fingers pointed and no factual or realistic information, we condemn our village to be hanged. A village, where we put the lies of young children above the credibility of our greatest elders!
Self preservation is one of mankind's base instincts and is ever present in everyone. This animalistic instinct can cause a person to do things seen as morally wrong by others or some will go to the most extreme lengths to keep themselves alive. Within the story The Crucible by Arthur Miller onse such character displays a very evident sense of self preservation and that character is none other than Mary Warren. Within the story Mary Warren is very guilty of raising hysteria amongst the town because of her actions due to self preservation.
At last, a tragic hero realized his bad and try to fix that into right way. In the book “the crucible” John Proctor said to lawyer and judgement that “Tell them I confessed myself: say Proctor broke his knees and wept like a woman:say what you will, but my name cannot-”(p62). It reflects that he is trying to be honest, and also trying to be a good father to his child and husband to Elizabeth. This is because, if he confess and avoid death, his child cannot inherited anything and Elizabeth lived with suffer because her husband is a witch. But, Proctor doesn’t confess that he is witch, and be honest to his child and wife.
Elizabeth's refusal to judge John Proctor comes from a pure religious sentiment that was untainted by a thirst for power. Elizabeth, through the book, mentions that the only person capable of judging John Proctor is himself, a believe that comes from the idea that John is responsible for upholding the integrity of his puritan pride and name in front of God and himself. In other words, Elizabeth understands that John must forgive himself for his own sin, as her forgiveness has no meaning regarding John's guilt in his own eyes or in the eyes of God. In the other hand, Danforth, the actual judge in Salem was manipulated by his constant preoccupation for his reputation and his ability to maintain power over Salem. Danforth's decisions could be
Elizabeth Proctor deserves the reader’s sympathy because of a broken marriage. While living in a small Puritan village during the Salem witch trials, Proctor and Elizabeth’s lives start to face the worse. Their marriage is broken because Proctor committed adultery with another girl in the village. Proctor says, “Abby you'll put it out of mind. I'll not be comin’ for you more” (Miller 22).
A man blinded by vanity can have his own perception of his importance in his community wrapped into the image of him being more important than he is. In act four John is asked by Judge Danforth to sign his name on his confession of witchcraft after signing it Procter refuses to allow it to be taken stat-ing “You will not use me! I am not Sarah Good or Tituba, I am john Proctor! You will not use me! It is no part of salvation that you should use me!”(Miller Pg.
After Proctor gives his confession and refutes it, he “tears the paper and crumples it” (144). Because of this action, Proctor’s fails to live up to his once good name in the eyes of the community, and will forever be in remembrance for being a witch because of the path of action he has taken. John Proctor’s actions conveys to the reader the necessity of a virtuous character. Before denying his confession, Proctor pleads with the court that, "[he] [has] given [them his] soul; leave [him his] name"(144)(IV.281-294). In Salem, there was no such thing of private immorality, so when John's testimony is threatened, he beseech that the court not confess his transgressions publicly because reputation is of importance in this town.
A Look Into Self Preservation in The Crucible “I have come to believe that caring for myself is not self -indulgent. Caring for myself is an act of survival” (Lorde Audre). We are forced to make decisions everyday that involve self preservation whether we realize it or not. According to Joe Islam, “self preservation is the first law of nature” ( Islam, Joe) and that it is usually your strongest instinct. In The Crucible, self preservation occurs multiple times throughout the story.
John Proctor illustrates that he is an ethical man because he highlights the fact that young girls, children, are controlling Salem purely with their words. Proctor 's ethical attributes are conveyed when he realizes that the group of accusers may be pretending to be afflicted, “I’ll tell you what’s walking Salem – vengeance is walking Salem. We are what we always were in Salem, but now the little crazy children are jangling the keys of the kingdom, and common vengeance writes the law!” (73) which causes other to question his credibility. He also speaks this to emphasize the problem that everyone assumes that the accusers, children, are innocent.
The Crucible was written in 1952 by Arthur Miller, the play delivers many messages and carries many themes throughout. Nearly every character in the play is put to the test to display an act of courage, weakness, or truth. Some characters lack these traits and never learn to have courage or display honesty. However, most characters are very courageous and demonstrate these acts throughout the whole play. Overall the theme of the The Crucible boils down to being about honesty, weakness, and courage.
John Proctor is a farmer and business owner is Salem Village, a village outside of the bigger Salem Town. Proctor is not only innocent, but is also one of Salems best residents because he puts his family first. Mr. Proctor has been accused of witchcraft by Mary Warren on false accusations. I am arguing in the case that John Proctor is innocent and Mary Warren has only accused John on the fear of being accused herself. On the day of Proctors hanging, he gets to talk to his wife Elizabeth and decides that he will not confess because he is a good man and that would soil his name and he would be telling a lie which only shows he is a good and pure man at heart.
John Proctor, who portrays the questioning views of puritan society {ADJSC}, questions the truthfulness of witch trial through evidence that the court uses to find the victims guilty, which leads him to challenge the court {ADVSC}. Miller states that “John Proctor would rebel against, for the time of the armed camp had almost passed….” (24) This means that Proctor has a rebellious nature, not having agreed with the court. Due to his stubborn attitude shown towards the court he creates a disagreement between him and the court. In this disagreement Proctor becomes a partisan for those being tried by this idea of spectral evidence, which can only be testified by the affected subject in a situation {PAPP}.
Hero: A person, typically a man, who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities; however, heroism is not synonymous with perfection. Man can be a hero in spite of having some flaws. This is apparent in The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, a story about the Salem Witch Trials in which Abigail Williams accuses dozens of innocent people of witchcraft. Despite being flawed, John Proctor, Reverend Hale, and Elizabeth Proctor can demonstrate their heroism in The Crucible. John Proctor is shown to be both a hero and a flawed man in regards to his lechery.
The first impressive characteristic of John Proctor is his bravery. Speaking out against the “afflicted” girls in the way he did could cause serious question of him as a person. From the court’s standpoint John could be seen as directly opposing the court, which would have him jailed, or could even have him be accused of witchcraft. Also, he would have had to have known that Abigail Williams would have immediately accused him of being a witch once he spoke out against them. However, that did not stop him from delivering the truth to the court.
At the court house, John Proctor was trying to prove his wife’s innocence to the court and admitted to cheating on her with Abigail. Proctor said, “I have made a bell of my honor! I have rung the doom of my good name-you will believe me, Mr. Danforth! My wife is innocent, except she knew a whore when she saw one!” (Miller 189).